2025 Headliners

[incident]

3 minutes ago, emmanuel said:

Sure, but maybe they should. Regional festivals working in closed circles are hardly the most exciting. None of the bigger European festivals use this regional thinking.

 

There's no festival in the world that would book an act thinking "well our audience won't get it, but it'll earn us kudos in another continent".

[emmanuel]

2 minutes ago, incident said:

 

There's no festival in the world that would book an act thinking "well our audience won't get it, but it'll earn us kudos in another continent".

Exactly, that's why most festival book acts that are internationally recognised, and not recognised on just one continent.

[Suprefan]

1 hour ago, Gnomicide said:

I think he's talking bollocks.

 

Which means Im right. 
 

oh yeah. Have a go at an old man going through the Coachella lineup. Why doesnt Glastonbury get these kinds of deep dives and think pieces. 

 

 

https://www.stereogum.com/2288325/21-thoughts-on-the-coachella-2025-poster/news/
 

[charlierc]

5 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

 

Which means Im right. 
 

oh yeah. Have a go at an old man going through the Coachella lineup. Why doesnt Glastonbury get these kinds of deep dives and think pieces. 

 

 

https://www.stereogum.com/2288325/21-thoughts-on-the-coachella-2025-poster/news/
 

First sentence of the fourth paragraph: "I don’t know why I started doing this, and I don’t know why I keep doing this"

 

Well I guess that's a way to interpret your feelings of the line-up.

[SirPsychoSexy]

1 hour ago, Skip997 said:

No

 

She clearly actually is. 

In your world, yes that’s a fine opinion for you to have.  
 

 
 

Edited 4 hours ago by SirPsychoSexy

[DomDom1984]

get a room

[RosaAG]

I can't say whether or not Sam Fender is suitable to headline the Pyramid, it’s ultimately subjective. He’d probably do more than well but for me it's worth noting that he’s an artist with a relatively modest 4M monthly listeners, which is low. From the perspective of a Glastonbury attendee travelling from outside the UK, I feel it would be a bit unusual for the headliner to be an artist I barely know two songs by. I understand that the festival is much more than its headliners, but I like to think that getting a ticket to Glasto gives you the chance to see artists that are rarely accessible or available at other festivals. Sam Fender isn't one of them.

 

When I think back to 2016, when I was there, I got to see Adele and Coldplay, and it blows my mind. These are artists that could sell out stadiums around the world even then. That's kind of what I still expect from the festival.

[MEGABOWL]

2 hours ago, Skip997 said:

No

 

She clearly actually is. 

Wrong. You think she is. That’s it.

[FKA SOSOTWS]

Glasto is a unique festival where tickets are sold prior to the lineup, and where lots of repeat visitors got the ticket sales process to their advantage with syndicates and such. Comparing it to Coachella is totally braindead in that context. It also means the festival cannot use the same booking metrics that other fests use. It's not rocket science.

[MEGABOWL]

1 hour ago, emmanuel said:

Exactly, that's why most festival book acts that are internationally recognised, and not recognised on just one continent.

All Festivals book acts that they think will sell tickets. Some will have a higher influx of foreign customers than others and book accordingly. Take Hurricane Festival for example. Sam Fender is playing there, but 4th down with the 2nd and 3rd acts on the hill being German. Makes perfect sense.

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, MEGABOWL said:

All Festivals book acts that they think will sell tickets. 

Glastonbury sell their tickets before acts are announced 

[yosoyyoberdi]

I see Sam Fender booking very similar to that of Stormzy in 2019. Completely unknown outside of UK and arguably even for most people within. Very disappointing for any international punter but then again, the festival enjoys pushing local talent and they are probably right in doing so.

 

Is it too early to bring back Kendrick? 

[MEGABOWL]

18 minutes ago, RosaAG said:

I can't say whether or not Sam Fender is suitable to headline the Pyramid, it’s ultimately subjective. He’d probably do more than well but for me it's worth noting that he’s an artist with a relatively modest 4M monthly listeners, which is low. From the perspective of a Glastonbury attendee travelling from outside the UK, I feel it would be a bit unusual for the headliner to be an artist I barely know two songs by. I understand that the festival is much more than its headliners, but I like to think that getting a ticket to Glasto gives you the chance to see artists that are rarely accessible or available at other festivals. Sam Fender isn't one of them.

 

When I think back to 2016, when I was there, I got to see Adele and Coldplay, and it blows my mind. These are artists that could sell out stadiums around the world even then. That's kind of what I still expect from the festival.

You’re entitled to want whatever you personally want from the festival, but there’s no promise that you will get to see acts rarely accessible or available at other festivals. Some years they will get that and some they won’t. It’s been discussed ad nauseum but Glastonbury doesn’t pay as much as other festivals. Sometimes you’ll get the likes of Adele and Coldplay who have a history with the festival. But generally all you pay for is Glastonbury.
 

If (and I’m not convinced it will be but that’s another issue) the headliners are the 1975, Olivia Rodrigo and Sam Fender that’s three acts who in the UK are Arena/Stadium level. Putting aside my own personal preferences that seems entirely fair enough.

[MEGABOWL]

3 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Glastonbury sell their tickets before acts are announced 

They still try and book the strongest line up they possibly can, which everybody knows when they pay their deposit. As soon as they stop doing that and start taking their customers for granted they’ll stop selling out.

[charlierc]

3 minutes ago, yosoyyoberdi said:

I see Sam Fender booking very similar to that of Stormzy in 2019. Completely unknown outside of UK and arguably even for most people within. Very disappointing for any international punter but then again, the festival enjoys pushing local talent and they are probably right in doing so.

 

Is it too early to bring back Kendrick? 

I think Fender headlining Werchter is the more unexpected one tbf. Sold out a lot of arena dates at less than 3 months notice for December and is headlining stadium shows in England next summer, so has the kudos here, but in most of his other announcements so far is in lower down slots so I'm bemused as to where a declaration he's headlining there came from.

[MEGABOWL]

Just now, charlierc said:

I think Fender headlining Werchter is the more unexpected one tbf. Sold out a lot of arena dates at less than 3 months notice for December and is headlining stadium shows in England next summer, so has the kudos here, but in most of his other announcements so far is in lower down slots so I'm bemused as to where a declaration he's headlining there came from.

That is an odd one. Pretty easy for Brits to travel to Belgium though. Ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam and Hull to Rotterdam. Wonder if that’s the audience they’re pitching for.

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, Suprefan said:

 

Which means Im right. 
 

oh yeah. Have a go at an old man going through the Coachella lineup. Why doesnt Glastonbury get these kinds of deep dives and think pieces. 

 

 

https://www.stereogum.com/2288325/21-thoughts-on-the-coachella-2025-poster/news/
 

 

[Skip997]

Just now, MEGABOWL said:

That is an odd one. Pretty easy for Brits to travel to Belgium though. Ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam and Hull to Rotterdam. Wonder if that’s the audience they’re pitching for.

Ah! There you have it, the Geordie connection 

[charlierc]

2 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

That is an odd one. Pretty easy for Brits to travel to Belgium though. Ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam and Hull to Rotterdam. Wonder if that’s the audience they’re pitching for.

I mean, Werchter once had Editors as a headliner. Maybe they're capable of unexpected regional variations compared to the rest of Europe.

[stuie]

8 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Glastonbury sell their tickets before acts are announced 

 

On good faith that they book the best lineup they can.  If they didn't produce the goods for a year or two, that faith would crumble. 

 

But you know that! 

[stuie]

3 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Again I’m with Suprefan on this 

 

You and Suprefan are both quite negative about the festival despite going to it for years / travelling across continents to go to it / talking about it on here most days of your lives.   

 

Sometimes I wonder why you go to it, to be honest. 

[MEGABOWL]

8 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Ah! There you have it, the Geordie connection 

It’s certainly a lot easier for British people to get tickets for Werchter than Belgian people to get tickets for Glastonbury. Or British people to get tickets for Glastonbury 😂 I can see the commercial sense in RW casting it’s net well outside Belgium.

[Skip997]

Just now, stuie said:

 

Sometimes I wonder why you go to it, to be honest. 

I’ve explained in quite some detail several times and not sure I can be bothered to do so again.

 

You’re very aware that it’s a considerably different experience for myself and my mates and it’s about so much more than the festival.

 

I’m also fairly sure you read my reviews every year, which should give you some idea. If you haven’t then I suggest you do.

 

And of course there’s always this

 

 

[RosaAG]

21 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

You’re entitled to want whatever you personally want from the festival, but there’s no promise that you will get to see acts rarely accessible or available at other festivals. Some years they will get that and some they won’t. It’s been discussed ad nauseum but Glastonbury doesn’t pay as much as other festivals. Sometimes you’ll get the likes of Adele and Coldplay who have a history with the festival. But generally all you pay for is Glastonbury.
 

If (and I’m not convinced it will be but that’s another issue) the headliners are the 1975, Olivia Rodrigo and Sam Fender that’s three acts who in the UK are Arena/Stadium level. Putting aside my own personal preferences that seems entirely fair enough.

 

Yes, you're right. That's why I said it's totally subjective. Personally I wouldn't pay a ticket to see Coldplay or Adele, but they’re great headliners for Glasto.

 

In any case, if the headliners don't please me, I'll just go to one of the other six concerts that will be happening at the same time. So it's no big deal.

[Gnomicide]

I've given this way more thought and time than I should have done...

 

sza had sold out her arena shows in the uk  and had the bst date. So its not like she wasnt popular to begin with. 

 

Agreed. Although there were lots of the usual "Who?" nonsense on line, the ticket sales, BST slot and streaming figures did, on paper at least, make her look like a decent choice.

 

Sza didnt work because nobody wanted an artist that connected more with people half their age than themselves. 

 

SZA didn't work because not enough people who were there, thought she was a better option than whatever else was on offer at the time. It's not that deep. It was a gamble, it didn't pay off 

 

And a r&b act on Sunday isnt the best thing either. It also shows you what the core audience gives a sh*t about. 

 

Is it doesn't give a sh*t about or prefers something else?

 

They truly dont want the fest to progress farther than like 2010.  

 

This is clearly nonsense for the majority of people who attend. There are many, many acts on that became popular after 2010 and have had big crowds. I mean, Billie Eilish was 9 when Glastonbury 2010 was on, but she did fine.

 

If she was british I bet you nobody would say a word. Or if it was Little Simz. 

 

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. You think if she was British no-one would mention the crowd size? Maybe if Sza got the crowd size Simz did, no-one would mention it.

 

And if you want to gatekeep the festival headliners then be my guest. Maybe where I live should stop lending you talent and we'll see how far these top names go in quality. No Billie, Kendrick, Olivia, Guns N Roses or  Foo Fighters just from the last few. 

 

This is just laughable.

 

Feel free to post this...

 

 

tldr: It's not that deep. They bumped up an act that they thought would be more popular that she was. That's it 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Gnomicide